


Keeping Up Appearances

by Quipxotic



Category: Star Wars: A New Dawn - John Jackson Miller, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Conversations, Don't mess with Hera, F/M, Femdom, Ficlet, Flirting, Fluff, Gap Filler, Idiots in Love, Post-Star Wars: A New Dawn, Pre-Relationship, Sexual Harassment, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23497177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quipxotic/pseuds/Quipxotic
Summary: Sometime after the events ofStar Wars: A New Dawn, Hera and Kanan are waiting on a rebel spy to make contact. Too bad a stranger has other ideas.Or, how theGhostcrew got their call signs.
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	Keeping Up Appearances

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is an extension of the drabble "[Call Signs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22994296/chapters/56334850)."

“I have an idea.”

Hera looked up from the drink she’d been nursing for the last half-hour as they waited for their contact to show up. “You always do. Often it involves sex.“

“No,” Kanan shook his head impatiently, “I’m serious this time.” Pausing, he realized what he’d just said and flushed. “Not that I wasn’t serious about…I mean, if you ever want to-“ 

“I’ll be sure to let you know.” Hera hid a grin. Flustered was always a good look on Kanan and she made sure to enjoy it. “What’s the idea?”

He recovered quickly. “We need call signs.”

“Huh?” She hadn’t expected the conversation to go in this direction. “That’s what you’ve been thinking about?”

“It makes sense,” he said earnestly. “Given what we’ve learned from our,” he paused and met her eyes meaningfully, “old friend on Ninvore-“

Hera nodded, recognizing the reference to Zaluna Myder, former surveillance operator for Transcept Media Solutions. Zal had not only shown them how extensive the Empire’s surveillance of average people was, but had also handed over data critical to fighting those efforts. 

“…call signs could be an added layer of security, if we don’t know who’s listening.”

He was right, it made sense. “And do you have any ideas on what those should be?”

“Well, your ship is the _Ghost_ ,” he grinned, “why not Spectre?” 

She laughed. “So that’s your call sign?”

“No, for all of us. Spectre-1, Spectre-2, Spectre-3…”

“And Spectre-1 would be?”

He met her eyes somewhat hesitantly. “Me.”

She narrowed her eyes back at him. “And why is that?”

“Look,” Kanan held up his hands in a pacifying gesture, “I know I’m not the boss here, clearly that’s you-“

“Yes,” she agreed, her voice stern, “I am.” 

“And I’m not trying to challenge that,” he looked away, his shoulders sagging slightly, “but the life we live…the work we do, it’s dangerous. No matter how careful we are, we’re going to draw unwanted attention sooner or later.” 

She shrugged. “And?”

“And that means people are going to come after us.” Kanan met her eyes again, but this time there was no hesitation, just calm certainty. “They’re going to try to target our leader, and I’d prefer they assumed that was me rather than you.” 

“Why,” she demanded, her voice rising slightly, “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know that,” he assured her, “but let’s face it: you’re a lot more important than me.” He huffed a scornful laugh. “I’ve spent years trying to lose myself. If I died, it wouldn’t matter-“

Hera looked at him, horrified. Kanan was a Jedi, a lapsed one perhaps, but almost certainly one of the last of his kind. No one could do the kinds of things he could do, certainly not Hera. “No,” she stammered, “no, it would matter-“ 

Kanan dismissed the idea with a wave. “To you, sure. To Chopper, maybe. But that’s pretty much it.” He lay his hand over hers on the cantina table. “But you are trying to do something important. You could make a real difference in the galaxy. That’s worth protecting.”

She opened her mouth only to close it again. Kanan had never believed in the cause like she did; he’d made it clear from the beginning he’d joined the _Ghost_ crew simply to be with her, not because of any political sentiments or impulse to rebel against the Empire. That he was admitting her cause was important was a big step and it rendered Hera temporarily speechless. 

Kanan didn’t seem to notice. He let go of her hand and reached for his drink. “One way to protect your work is to convince everyone I’m the leader of our crew.” He gestured as if his next statement was self-explanatory. “So I’m Spectre-1. I take the heat if and when it comes, leaving you free to do,” his voice petered out, becoming less confident, “…what you do.” 

Recovering from her surprise, Hera hid a smile and ignored the growing warmth in her chest. She leaned her head on her hand. “Explain it to me again.”

“Why?”

“Humor me.”

Kanan sighed, completely serious for once. “You’re the brains of this operation-“

She raised an eyebrow. “Glad to hear you finally admit that out loud.”

“You decide where we’re going, what the mission is-“

“But you decide our course of action once we get there.” She tapped his nose playfully. “You’re our strategist.” 

“Which is why this will work. People will believe I’m in charge and, if they try to take out anyone, it’ll be me.” He shrugged. “Like I said, it’s protection.”

 _For me, but not for you,_ she thought. Still, the idea implied he truly cared about her and planned to stick around. Hera felt her heart melt, but ignored it. There was work to do, a rebellion to start. Personal, emotional attachments would have to wait until later. Then again, keeping Kanan close was definitely something she wanted - for professional reasons, of course. “It’s a solid plan…Spectre-1.” 

Kanan grinned, clearly relieved she’d agreed to this. “Thank you, Spectre-2.” 

They stared at each other for a long time, heads leaned close together, and even Hera could admit there was nothing professional about it. As usual, she recovered herself first and looked away. “Chopper’s not going to like being last.”

He scoffed. “When does Chopper like anything?” 

“True.”

Kanan glanced at her glass. “Another drink?”

“Sure.” She checked the time. “We’ll give our contact another ten minutes and then get out of here.” 

Sliding out of the booth they shared, he headed toward the bar. “Be right back.” 

Hera nodded, her eyes following Kanan as he walked. He was easy on the eyes and sweetly considerate, when he wasn’t trying so hard to be a rakish asshole. She smiled, realizing she was one of the few he let inside his disguise. 

“Well, aren’t you two adorable?”

Hera jolted out of her reverie to notice a lanky Palliduvan male approaching her. Immediately, she was on guard. “What’s it to you?”

“Oh nothing.” He shrugged and leaned against the booth to leer down at her. “It’s just a pleasure seeing two such attractive sentients in a,” he gestured around them, “bottom-feeding dive like this one.” He leaned closer and Hera fought an impulse to give ground. “You know, if you ever want to make some quick credits, I know a guy who can hook you up. There’s a real market for,” his leer grew wider, “holovids of a sensual nature, crafted for clientele with specific, refined tastes, if you know what I mean. You and your boyfriend could make a killing.”

She did know what he meant. Twi’leks, particularly Twi’lek females, received this kind of unwanted solicitation all the time and Twi’lek/human pairings were a fetish of far too many males of all species. Feeling her anger rise, Hera glanced across the cantina where Kanan stood at the bar. He’d kick this Palliduvan’s ass if he knew what he’d said to her. 

Well, he could get in line behind her.

Hera smiled a smile that most people read as seductive, but anyone who knew her realized instantly meant danger. She reached toward the stranger’s face as if to bring it closer to her, but at the last minute she slipped the sharp end of a blade under his chin. With her other hand, she pointed her blaster at the most vulnerable part of the anatomy of most males of humanoid species. “I… _appreciate_ the offer, now let me make one of my own.” She pushed his head up and away from her, which had the added effect of pushing the blade harder against his skin. The Palliduvan whimpered. “If you turn around and leave now, I’ll let you keep all your limbs. How’s that sound?” 

“Darling,” Kanan’s voice broke through the tension, warm and jovial, “you didn’t tell me we were expecting company.” Placing their drinks on the table, he slung a companionable arm around the Palliduvan’s shoulders and pulled him back a step. Hera took the opportunity to put her knife back in its sheath. Her blaster she kept at the ready, but hidden under the table. “Sorry mister, the missus is serious about date night. It’s so rare we get time away from the kids, you know how it is.” 

“I see that now.” The stranger cleared his throat and placed a data disc on the table between their drinks. “Take this for your trouble.” He tipped his hat at Hera and lowered his voice. “Lawsmic Sirtwe sends his regards.” Without another word, he turned and walked quickly away.

Hera stared after the retreating stranger as Kanan sat down across from her. “ _That_ was our contact?” 

“Evidently,” he chuckled, picking up and pocketing the disc with his left hand. With his right, the hand easily visible to the rest of the catina, he reached for his drink. “Seems you made an impression. What’d he say to get under your skin like that?”

“Nothing I care to repeat.” She frowned at him. “Missus? When did we get married? I’m sure I’d remember something like that, not to mention having kids.”

“Life comes at you fast on the Outer Rim,” he replied with a wink. “Besides, there’s Chopper and the _Ghost_ -“

“ _My_ droid and _my_ ship are not our children.” Still, she couldn’t help smiling. Relaxing slightly, she holstered her weapon. “Do you think we drew any more unwanted attention.”

“Hard to say,” Kanan scanned the room casually, “but I don’t see anything to worry about.” 

“What about,” Hera hesitated, “do you sense-“

“Nothing there either,” he interrupted quickly. “Still, we’ll give it a few minutes and head back. Agreed?” 

“Agreed.” 

They sat in silence for a while. Finally, a smile quirked the corners of Kanan’s mouth. “You know, Hera, you’re pretty scary when you want to be.”

She nodded. “Good.”

His smile widened. “It’s hot as hell.”

Hera rolled her eyes. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him to stand up with her. “Come on, _love_ , let’s get back before the kids start missing us.”

Kanan put an arm around Hera’s waist, eating up the opportunity to act this out even if it was only for the benefit of appearances. “Darling, you read my mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel a little weird labeling this "Fluff," despite the fact that that's mostly what it is. Can it really be fluff if a dude you don't know solicits you, and the guy you're pretending to not be attracted to, to make a porno? That seems decidedly non-fluff territory, although Hera handles it with ease. 
> 
> It's also why this is labeled Teens and Above.


End file.
